Background Aside from their typical use to treat depression, many antidepressants are also used to treat anxiety disorders and chronic pain disorders. Moreover, it has been proved that they show anti-inflammatory effects. We believe that a part of this effect of antidepressants can arise as a consequence of histamine elimination from the site of inflammation. In mammals, histamine is mainly met...

To elucidate the modulatory role of histamine-degrading enzymes in airway constrictor responses, human bronchial strips were studied under isometric conditions in vitro. Pretreatment of tissues with the histamine N-methyltransferase (HMT) inhibitor SKF 91488 specifically potentiated the contractile responses to histamine, causing a leftward displacement of the concentration response curves, whe...

A series of 4-aminomethylpyridazines and -pyridazin-3(2H)-ones ("diaza-benzylamines"), bearing alkylamino side chains in ortho position relative to the CH(2)NH(2) unit, was synthesized by catalytic hydrogenation of the corresponding nitriles in strongly acidic medium. N-Benzyl protecting groups either at the pyridazinone ring nitrogen or at an exocyclic nitrogen were selectively removed hydroge...

Putrescine can be converted to y-aminobutyraldehyde by enzymes from different sources (l-3). It. is generally believed that this conversion is catalyzed by a nonspecific diamine oxidase. The presence of such an enzyme in bacteria, however, has not been firmly established experimentally. We have previously reported that, in a mutant of Escherichia co& B selected to grow on putrescine as the sole...

Background In this study the influence of active ingredients of certain drugs on the activity of human diamine oxidase (DAO; EC 1.4.3.22) was quantified. DAO is the main enzyme in catabolism of biogenic amines in the intestine. Ingestion of food containing high amounts of biogenic amines in case of reduced activity of DAO leads to an accumulation of histamine which causes symptoms of histamine ...

Data concerning the substrate specificity and the exact intracellular localization of the polyamine-catabolizing enzyme polyamine oxidase are conflicting. Biochemical studies have shown that N1-acetylation of spermine and spermidine dramatically increases the specificity of these compounds for peroxisomal polyamine oxidase to produce spermidine and putrescine, respectively. On the other hand, p...

1. The preparation of a series of compounds derived from diamines by replacing one amino group by a dimethylsulphonium, isothiuronium, trimethylammonium, NN'-dimethylimidazolium or N-methylpyridinium species is described. 2. The behaviour of these compounds as substrates of pig kidney diamine oxidase is reported. All but the trimethylammonium compounds proved to be substrates. 3. Many of these ...

The bipiperidyl alkaloid ammodendrine was detected in 28 plant species as a minor alkaloid besides quinolizidine alkaloids. Cadaverine serves as a precursor for both quinolizidine alkaloids and for ammodendrine, since labelled cadaverine is incorporated into both rings of amm oden­ drine. Cell-free extracts of Lupinus arboreus and of Pisum sativum, which contain an active diamine oxidase form a...

1. The oxidation of some para-substituted benzylamines by diamine oxidase produces the corresponding aldehydes. This was studied to develop a spectrophotometric method for following the enzyme reaction, as the aldehydes produced absorb strongly at 250nm where the substrates are almost optically transparent. 2. p-Dimethylaminomethylbenzylamine was the most useful substrate and full details of it...

A reexamination has been made for the supposed regulation of pea (Pisum sativum cv Alaska) cotyledonary diamine oxidase (EC 1.4.3.6) activity by the embryonic axis. When dry cotyledons from which the embryo and testa have been removed surgically are imbibed by soaking in water, there is little increase of the enzyme activity during subsequent incubation on filter paper. However, if the dry coty...